


just a touch of your love is enough to knock me off of my feet

by em_23



Series: the kids aren’t alright [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Post 1x9, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27035845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/em_23/pseuds/em_23
Summary: Reggie slowed his approach but still wrapped his arms around Nick easily, and the guitarist was unsure if he was used to the touches by now or had just gotten better at hiding his small flinches at the contact.orAfter being possessed by Caleb, Nick starts to trust again.
Relationships: Alex & Nick (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Julie Molina/Nick, Luke Patterson/Julie Molina/Reggie/Nick, Luke Patterson/Nick, Nick/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: the kids aren’t alright [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970626
Comments: 11
Kudos: 114





	just a touch of your love is enough to knock me off of my feet

**Luke**

He couldn’t exactly pinpoint the moment when Luke had started to change around him, but he was certain that it corresponded with the small touches that started occurring three weeks after his panic attack in Julie’s studio. 

At first it was nothing, just the brush of his fingers against his arm while Luke had his arm around Julie on the couch in the studio, or leaning forward to write down a line of lyrics or a chord progression, his shoulder bumping against the blonds. 

At first it was nothing, but then it was something. 

Nick couldn’t deny that he was physically attracted to Luke, after he’d seen him on stage with Julie after the spirit assembly, or at her house when they played the garage party, he had felt drawn to him, in the same way he imagined Julie did. 

There was something about his eyes and the way he spoke about connections that drew him in closer, then there’d been the watchful gazes and quiet discussions that they’d had, making Nick wonder if his attraction was returned. 

Then there’d been the time that he’d gone over for movie night, his irrational fear of the dark and unknown places toying with his anxiety and emotions, all until Luke had pulled him close and he’d fallen asleep to the silence of his chest. 

After spending time with the band, and Luke, Nick had come to the realisation that the guitarists love language was touch. 

Nick glanced back out at the water in front of them, the soft chords that Luke was playing on his six string barely audible over the sound of the waves. 

The beach had been his way of escaping, especially at night when the only light that filled the area was from the floodlights on the path above the sand, giving the area enough light to see without straining his eyes. 

“Show me that chord again?” He found himself asking as he settled his fingers on the strings of his own guitar, glancing over to look at Luke and follow the way his fingers moved. 

Luke strummed his guitar, rearranging his fingers to play the chords for In Your Starlight - the Sunset Curve song that he’d decided to show him. 

Nick managed to follow him through the first verse and pre-chorus, his fingers stilling on the strings as he played the wrong chord and sighed, shaking his head at himself. 

It’d only been twelve days since he’d started playing again, since he felt enough like himself to let himself return to music, and while it hadn’t been more than two months without him playing, he felt like it had been two years. 

“You’ll get it.” Luke reassured him, bumping his shoulder against the blonds. 

“I just feel like I’m not even holding my fingers right?” He shook his head again, if he couldn’t play, what else would he do? Music had been his whole life. 

“Show me how you’re holding them.” Luke set his guitar down on the sand and moved slightly so he could watch Nick’s fingers. 

Nick played the chord progression again, starting at the pre-chorus and working his way through, his fingers slipping again on the strings in the same place as before. 

He glanced away, frustrated with himself. 

“Hey.” Luke leant in closer, using that voice that he’d used in the bathroom the night he’d gone over and watched movies with the four of them, the one that he’d appreciated because it had grounded him and made his thoughts stop overloading. “If you adjust your fingers slightly, you’ll be able to reach the chord better.” 

Nick tried again, shifting his hand as per Luke’s recommendation and felt the urge to push his guitar away as his fingers slipped again, tears pricking at his eyes as he tried to blink them away. 

Luke lent forward, angling Nick’s wrist into a different position and then shifted his fingers on the strings.

He looked to Luke at the first touch of contact, him leaning in close enough that he could feel the ghost of his breath on his cheek. 

Tears and anxiety forgotten at the proximity, he wet his lips with his tongue and tried to focus on something else, instead watching the way his fingers settled on the strings now, how it felt more comfortable and natural than before. 

“There.” Luke breathed, not pulling back from his position, he glanced too Nick, “Try again.” 

He tightened his hands on his guitar, his left hand brushing over the strings that rested over the sound hole, the chord sounding close to perfect now. 

Nick let out a small sigh of relief, and glanced back to Luke. 

Luke’s eyes were no longer fixed on the guitar or his hands, instead on his face, glancing between his eyes and lips, he felt his cheeks heat up at the gaze. 

Nick went to speak, say anything to break the tension but instead there was pressure on his lips, Luke’s hand moving to his cheek, pulling him into the kiss. 

He pulled back, eyes closed and breathing hard, his thoughts sparse. “Julie.” He swallowed thickly, he’d seen the way that they’d looked at each other, the touches that they’d shared. 

“She knows.” 

Nick pulled back further, opening his eyes enough to look at Luke, confusion evident on his face. “She knows?” He repeated, wondering how stupid he looked and sounded. 

Luke exhaled, his boyish and blinding smile pulling at his lips, “She knows that I like you.”

Nick’s stomach flipped at the confession, his chest tightening, but not with panic or anxiety.

“And she said that we’d work it out.” Luke continued, his thumb brushing over Nick’s cheek.

He lent into the touch, letting his eyes close again as Luke’s lips pressed back against his. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Reggie**

Another thing that worked to clear Nick’s mind was driving. 

He’d been given a car for his sixteenth birthday, a present from his parents, it wasn’t anything special, a second hand automatic that used too much petrol, but it was freedom. 

He didn’t really appreciate it until after the _incident_ , prior he only really used it to drive to school, lacrosse games and Carrie’s house, but now whenever he felt overwhelmed and the beach seemed too crowded, he’d get in his car, wind the windows down and turn up the music, hardly listening to whatever was playing, trying to focus on the road in front of him and keeping himself out of his own head. 

At 3pm on a Friday afternoon, the weather was warm and Nick could imagine how busy the beach would be, how many adults and children would be sitting on the sand and swimming in the water. 

The thought of all those people didn’t ease the rising tension that he felt in his chest, he’d just had a meeting with one of his teachers, they were concerned about his well being, they’d asked him if he’d been taking anything, if he needed to see the school counsellor to discuss what was going on his life. They asked about his parents, his home life, about his relationships. 

He couldn’t exactly tell his teacher that while he hadn’t been in a relationship with anyone since Carrie, he was in love with Julie Molina and had kissed the ghost guitarist from her band two days earlier. 

Nick managed to break free from what felt like an interrogation and made his way out of the school, through the empty hallways that had been filled with students not long ago. 

He pulled his keys free from his pocket, wrapping his hand tight enough around them, trying to focus on the feeling of the metal pressing against his skin rather than the anger that was bubbling in his chest. 

Nick exhaled as he grew closer to his car, not even noticing the ghost that was leant against his hood. 

“Nick!” Reggie greeted, a smile on his face as he grew closer to his car. 

Nick swallowed thickly and tried to smile, which Reggie saw straight through, the smile dropping from his own face. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked. 

The guitarist shook his head and unlocked the car, sliding into the driver's seat, throwing his backpack into the backseat and turning the engine over. 

Reggie appeared in the passenger seat next to him, leaning over to reach into Nick’s pocket and pull out his phone, attaching the device to the AUX cord and selecting a song that was loud enough to drown out the sound of his own thoughts. 

Nick could hear the tapping of keys on his phone as he pulled out of the car park, he assumed that Reggie was messaging his parents and covering for him, probably texting that he was going to Julie’s instead of driving aimlessly with no destination in mind. 

This wasn’t the first time that Reggie had ended up joining him on a drive, when he’d needed to get out of somewhere so fast that he just got in the driver's seat and pressed his foot down on the accelerator. 

He wasn’t sure how long they drove until he eventually pulled over at a side of the road that overlooked the ocean and he turned the engine off, leaving his hands resting on the wheel. 

They sat in silence, until Nick spoke. 

“They think that I’m on drugs, or that there’s a problem at home.” He shook his head, closing his eyes and leaning forward, pressing his forehead against the steering wheel. 

Reggie didn’t speak and Nick was thankful that he was so perceptive.

“I can’t exactly explain to anyone that I was possessed by a ghost for three weeks and I’m now traumatised and can’t even sit in a room without the lights on.” 

Nick went to hit his hand against the steering wheel in frustration, only stopped by Reggie’s fingers wrapping around his wrist and pulling his hand towards him. 

“I’m sorry.” He breathed, already feeling that anger that had risen in him again starting to die back down, “I know you don’t like yelling.” 

Reggie remained silent and let go of Nick’s hand, poofing out of the passenger seat and reappearing leaning on the hood of the car, looking out over the ocean. 

Nick waited a few moments, inhaling, counting a beat and exhaling before he got out of the car himself, leaning against the bonnet of his car next too Reggie. 

“Sorry.” He started again, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the water below them, the way the last rays of sunlight flashed off the surging water. 

“You don’t have to apologise to me.” Reggie spoke, glancing over at Nick, “We should be apologising to you, dragging you into this mess, if we hadn’t gone to Caleb’s club in the first place to try and get back at Bobby...” 

Nick moved closer, resting his shoulder against Reggie’s and shook his head, “Trauma is character building.” He smiled, feeling calm as he lent into the bassist. 

He felt Reggie laugh as he wrapped his arm around the guitarist's shoulders and Nick lent further into him, inhaling that familiar scent of pine and leather. 

“Thanks.” Nick said after a few long moments of them watching the last rays of light disappear on the horizon. 

Reggie pulled Nick’s phone from his pocket and showed him the time, “If we head back now we can make it too Julie’s in time for pizza.” 

Nick smiled and exhaled, Reggie’s hand moving to brush through his hair, “Alright, let’s go.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Alex**

“I was anxious and then I got possessed, and it didn’t get any better.” Nick smiled at Alex who was sitting across from him at the table, his headphones in his ears to make it seem like he was speaking on the phone instead of the empty space in front of him. 

“I said something similar to Willie when we first met, I was a _little_ anxious, _then_ I died.” Alex picked at the sleeve of his jumper, glancing around the cafe. 

They sat in silence for a long moment, nothing uncomfortable, then Alex got to his feet. 

“Come on.” He told the other, motioning towards the door. 

Nick spared a last glance at his half finished mug of hot chocolate (he hadn’t been able to drink coffee since the incident - it wasn’t that he wasn’t able to, it was the fact it kept him up and made him more paranoid, the boys and Julie had staged an intervention, taking caffeine away from Nick to help him sleep) and moved out the door after Alex. 

“Where are we going?” Nick asked when he caught up next to the drummer, trying to match his pace. 

It was getting darker outside, the sun having set not long long after they’d arrived at the small coffee shop. Nick had been trying to keep himself busy, he’d been filling his days with school, study, exercise, anything that could tire him out enough that he’d fall asleep at a normal time and stay asleep. 

It worked for the most part, except the night before he’d woken up wet with sweat at 2am and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. 

The last time that had happened it caused a period of sleep deprivation and he’d been up for three days, too worried about the others being worried for him to tell them until he almost fell asleep behind the wheel of his car while driving. 

“You’ll see.” Alex called back. 

They didn’t walk for much longer, the drummer holding out his hand for Nick’s phone and sorting through the apps on his phone and settling on Uber, turning away so Nick couldn’t see the screen. 

“So I have to pay for the Uber and I don’t get to know where we’re going?” He asked with a smile. 

“You’ll see when we get there.” Alex repeated himself, pocketing the phone once he’d memorised the license plate of the vehicle. 

Nick knew where they were as soon as they started the ascent, memories from his childhood that he didn’t even know he still had resurfacing. 

As the car pulled up outside the observatory, Alex poofed from the seat next to Nick, appearing outside next to where the car stopped. 

Nick thanked the driver and climbed out, standing next to the drummer, “My mum loved this place.” He admitted, “I haven’t been up here in years though.” 

Alex cast him a sideways glance and nodded, “Luke and I used to come up here sometimes.” 

The taller blond started walking towards the domed building, glancing upwards towards the sky and looking at the stars that were becoming more and more visible. 

“Sometimes we’d play a gig and didn’t want to go back to the studio, so we’d come up here and just sit and watch.” 

Nick watched Alex as he spoke, “Were you and Luke?” 

“Yeah.” He smiled fondly, bumping their shoulders together as they walked towards a lookout that had a view of the city in the distance. 

They stopped at the white railing, Nick resting both of his forearms on the rail and leaning forward. 

“You used to come up here with you mum?” Alex prompted, mirroring Nick’s stance. 

“Yeah, she loved looking at the stars, and imagining what all the people were doing down below in their lives.” He gestured to the lights coming from the houses down below. “She died when I was seven, cancer.”

“I’m sorry.” Alex’s reply was quiet. 

“So am I.” He smiled, leaning in against the drummer. 

They stood in silence for a long while, Nick’s eyes flicking between the lights below them and the stars above them. 

“I liked coming up here, it made me feel as if my problems weren’t as big as I thought they were. That I knew if I looked down at the houses and city there was someone worse off than me, you know?” 

Nick nodded, he knew the feeling, the small tugging in his gut silenced since they’d looked out over the view. 

“And then the stars,” Alex continued, “Luke used to say something about us being made from the same stardust, and that’s how the four of us found each other, to form Sunset Curve, I think his parents brought him up here when he was younger too.” 

Nick hummed and exhaled, feeling tired for the first time in two days as he lent further into Alex. “I like it up here. Thanks for showing me.” 

“Anytime.” The drummer responded, “We should get back before anyone starts worrying. You should come to Julie’s and stay in the loft with us.” 

Nick smiled at the invitation and nodded, there was something about the offer that made him feel even more at peace, that he’d found a family in the band, an upside to the trauma he’d suffered through. 

Giving the stars and city lights one more glance, he looked to Alex, “Let’s go.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Julie**

Nick definitely wasn’t avoiding Julie, not at all. 

Except he definitely was because only days earlier he’d kissed _her_ guitarist from _her_ band, the one she’d been making heart eyes at and said she’d liked when he had asked her out. 

Asking her out felt like a million years ago, standing in the hallway pretending that his heart didn’t break slightly at her telling him she liked someone else. 

Sure he’d seen her since the situation on the beach, he’d gone over to her house after his drive with Reggie for pizza and had seen her at school, but having a one on one conversation with her was something that he was trying to avoid, his life was already in a state of disrepair. 

He’d been doing well until his coach from the lacrosse team had decided that they needed a few more classes of dance to perfect those skills they’d learnt the first time around and use them on the field. 

Stepping into the gym in his lacrosse singlet, shorts and socks hadn’t been what he’d imagined for the day, he had hoped that their usual training would go ahead and he’d get to aim some balls into the net and knock a few team members on their backs, not exactly a captain like performance, but it had been a way to get his anger out the last few weeks. 

“Alright team, partner up.” 

Nick glanced around the gym, tapping his fingers awkwardly as his side and looking for someone to partner up with, his eyes pausing on Julie as she raised her hand and smiled at him. 

He took in a breath before making his way over to her, an odd sense of deja vu occurring. 

“Hey, Nick.” She spoke, glancing back towards the teacher and taking his hands, moving him through the motion of the dance with her.

“Glad you got my name right.” He answered, referring to the last time they’d been in the gym together and she’d called him Luke. Nick paused, perhaps it wasn’t a great idea to bring that up. 

Julie laughed, a sound that he loved, that and the way her nose scrunched, or how bright her eyes were when she smiled. 

“You know,” She started, half his attention on her and the other half at the instructor at the front of the room who was moving through the motions at half pace. “I spoke to Luke about what happened.” 

Nick almost lost his footing, his chest tightening, this is the exact reason he’d been avoiding her, with everything he’d dealt with in the last few months there seemed to be something ominous in regards to stealing Julie’s crush. 

Julie laughed again at his inability to keep his feet, shaking her head and taking both of his hands again, he thought that she would have been more fazed, that she would have fixed him with a stare and told him to steer clear (not that he ever expected that from Julie, he’d just never developed a crush on someone else’s crush and kissed them before), but here she was smiling and laughing. 

He knew that their relationship had developed recently, turning up at her house mid panic attack, being able to not only see Luke, Reggie and Alex but all ghosts, including Willie. Finding out and discussing the fact that he’d been possessed by a ghost-magician who wanted to get back at them because they’d broken his curse that was supposed to kill them or make them join his band forever, was just weird.

Nick exhaled, watching Julie twirl, her hair fanning out around her as she did, the breath catching in his throat, could he feel this way about more than one person at a time? 

“Luke, yeah.” He nodded, he could almost feel the pressure of the guitarists lips against his own again, the feeling of his hand on his cheek and the rush of waves in his ears.

“You should come by the studio tonight, we can finish Brave, I know we fell asleep during it last time you were over.” 

Nick found himself nodding and accepting before he could fully catch up with the possible repercussions of going over to Julie’s house, where she’d be _and_ Luke. 

The rest of the class was a blur, almost trapped too far in his own head to string together a full sentence, over the sound of static in his head, Julie’s laugh every time he fell out of step or almost fell and he thought maybe this would be fine. 

For once, Nick hadn’t been blindsided, he’d turned up at Julie’s place, spoke to Mr. Molina (‘Ray’ - he’d insisted) about the dance class and lacrosse, finding out that Carlos was interested in playing next season as a local club and Nick offered to come back around and show him the ropes and give some tips before he started. 

He walked into the studio, Julie in sweat pants and an oversized jumper, sitting on the couch alone.

“Hey.” Nick spoke as he stepped closer, sitting down on the couch next to her. 

“I asked the boys to give us some space.” She started and Nick suddenly felt concerned, was she going to tell him that he wasn’t welcome to hang out with them anymore? He’d only just started to feel comfortable with this family of friends surrounding him and didn’t know if he could cope with the loss. 

“Alright.” He answered, scratching at the back of his head. 

She leant forward and clicked the spacebar to her laptop, the opening scenes of Brave filling the small screen. 

Julie lent against him, resting her hand on his knee and manoeuvring his arm to rest over her shoulders. The contact wasn’t anything new, since the boys returned to solid form for her they always seemed to be touching one way or another, and he’d noticed with himself as well, their hands lingering, worried that one moment their touch would fade. 

About halfway through the movie Julie sat up straighter, pulling back enough so she could look at him, Nick smiled at her in response, but the look on her face made his stomach turn.

“I just wanted to say that I wasn’t _entirely_ honest.”

This was it, this was her telling him that she didn’t want to see him again, he felt sick.

“When you asked me out, you know, _before_ , I said that I liked someone else, but I didn’t mention that I did like you as well.”

Nick swallowed, that wasn’t the sentence he expected. “Like or liked?” He asked, leaving his arm around her shoulder as she shifted once again. 

“Like.” She confirmed, “And I know that you like Luke, and that Luke likes you too, and it definitely felt a _little_ weird at first, but I like you, and Luke too, so.” 

Nick glanced around the room, wondering if the others were going to jump out at any time and say they were pranking him, but the look on Julie’s face and- _oh._ She was being serious. 

“So?” He blinked. 

“I thought that we could try and see where it goes?” Julie’s eyes were bright when she fixed them on him, making his stomach turn with butterflies. 

“With me and Luke?” He clarified, swallowing.

Julie lent forward and pressed her lips against his, the pressure as light as the butterflies in his stomach, nothing like the way Luke had kissed him on the beach. 

She pulled back and he moved to brush a strand of hair away from her face, finding himself nodding before he could fully comprehend the situation, she had a way of making him jump without looking first. 

“Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from Touch - Little Mix.


End file.
